I turn away from James again to look to the CEO—I’m all business now.
“What’s that?” I ask him.
“I want you both to come over for dinner tonight. I think we should go over some more parameters before the meeting. You two have been working too hard, and I think getting out of the office will be a nice change of scenery. I don’t want you pulling an all-nighter here.”
Gulping down my anxiety about spending time with James and my parents—together—I decide this isn’t a good idea.
“I think it’s a great idea!” James jumps in before I can protest.
Positioning my body so I can see both him and my father, I glower at James and argue, “Well, I don’t.”
“Your mom will even make your favorite dish,” my dad insists, trying to sweeten the pot.
“What’s her favorite?” James asks with amusement in his tone.
Don’t tell him, Dad, he’ll think it’s corny.
“My girl is all about the homemade mac n’ cheese with pork chops, of course. I think she was eating mac n’ cheese before she ate baby food,” he chuckles, and his blue eyes twinkle with love and affection for me.
As mushy and sweet as it is, on the inside I’m dying of embarrassment. My dad’s never said anything like this in front of James, nor has he said anything like this in front of other employees. I can feel a blush creep into my cheeks, and the crimson probably matches my heels. A part of me wants to grab my face to hide the color, but that would only bring more attention to it and signal to James about my discomfort.
“Macaroni and cheese? Never would’ve pegged you for something so simple, El.” James grins wickedly, and my embarrassment is long forgotten.
Now sparks of heat light his eyes, leaving me wholly captivated. I’m on a merry-go-round of emotions, and I need to get off this ride. Biting my lip to stifle a mewl that wants to burst forth, I breathe deeply through my nose. It’s unnerving to have his eyes boring into me the way they are, and to top it off, we have an audience.
To break the spell, I resort to being my normal self. “Okay, I have work to do. I’ll be back later, James, so we can continue to prep.”
“So you’ll be there tonight then? You know your mom will be disappointed if you don’t come.”
That’s right, Dad, lay the guilt trip on me.
Grumbling out a “yes,” I leave the room and don’t come back until the late afternoon. After all, I need time away from James to think and to get my head on straight. The need to stop thinking about him and his lips is my main focus. He’s all wrong for me, and I have to keep repeating that mantra to myself.
6
Jamison
Instead of making her come to me, I went to her office as a way to run up the white flag. I wanted to broach the topic of our almost-kiss, but she was in no mood to do anything but talk shop, so I pacified her. We wrapped things up two hours ago and called it quits for the night since we knew we still had an evening ahead with her parents.
It’s after eight o’clock now as I pull up in my truck to Alexander’s house. His home sits on a large plot of land with sprawling gardens in a gated community. My aunt and I had a similar home in Texas, and it makes my chest ache to think about moving her away from the wonderful life we had.
Summer evenings in Florida are so different than in Texas, the humidity being the biggest difference. As I walk up the steps, I pull at my shirt because of it sticking to my skin. The collar is suffocating me, so I undo a button. Sweat dots my forehead, and I swipe it away. I brought a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers for Mrs. Alcott—being the gentleman I am. There was an internal debate about whether or not to bring something for El, but I ultimately decided against it—she would think it was some type of tactic.
I’m dressed in khaki shorts—what I consider my golf shorts. I have a pair of trainers laced on my feet with a white polo shirt. Casual is on the menu this evening, and I want El to see a new side of me—the side she refuses to see.
The beautiful brickwork on the front of the house catches my eye, and I realize it suits the Alcott family. There are modern additions to the architecture that reflect Alexander—he’s always bridging the past and future in his professional and personal life. I ring the doorbell and wait anxiously for my hosts to answer.
El’s standing on the other side of the door when it opens. My mouth hangs open, and I can’t help but stare unabashedly. “Elodie…” I breathe out, the timbre in my voice dipping low.
“Jamison,” she answers and cocks her head at the way I said her name.
As I continue admiring her look, I notice she decided to show me a new side of her as well and literally let her hair down. I want to run my hands through the tresses so badly, but thankfully I can’t do it while holding flowers and wine.
I finally remember myself and genuinely smile. She’s still donning the glasses I love so much, but gone are the gray pants and black blouse from a few hours ago. Instead, she’s wearing a pale pink summer dress that skims her knees, and the straps at her shoulders are thin, baring her skin beautifully. What is revealed is sexy and alluring, and the paleness of her flesh is a stunning contrast against the light pink garment—I don’t like that fake-tan shit. The dainty sandals strapped to her feet are a breath of fresh air compared to her killer heels.
There’s a diamond pendant necklace sitting in the hollow of her throat, and I swallow back the urge to move the pendant and swirl my tongue at that exact spot. Her lips are nude—free of the heavier makeup, so I finally notice a soft splash of freckles across her nose and cheeks. This is a completely different woman.
This must be a peace offering on her part, letting me see her like this, because I can’t imagine she’d ever let her guard down around me again. This afternoon when she exhibited vulnerability was a fluke —there was no Mistress of the Darkness in sight.
El smiles back at me and eyes me up and down from head to toe, and I thoroughly enjoy the appreciation swirling in her baby blues.
“You couldn’t back out of tonight, could ya?” she jokes with a twist of her lips.
A joke, from her? I chuckle and give her my biggest smirk. “Now why would I miss mac n’ cheese night, Miss Alcott?”
She giggles. She fucking giggles, resulting in my mouth dropping to the floor once again. Who is this woman?
In the house somewhere I hear Alexander’s voice yell, “Is that Jamison I hear?”
El rolls her eyes and answers her father, “Yeah, Dad.”
She looks at me, opening the door further, and tells me, “C’mon in.”
I mumble a thanks as I brush by her and purposely graze her arm as I go. Hearing her breath stutter, I’m internally high-fiving myself over having an effect on her body. She’s throwing me a curve ball with this new look and attitude, and I can’t help but wonder if things will be different between us after tonight. Maybe her walls will be down slightly, and I can talk to her about what happened in my office today.
Once I’m inside, I take stock of my surroundings and realize she’s heading to the kitchen. I dutifully follow behind, watching the sway of her ass and the swish of the dress flowing out from her hips. Gripping the bottle of wine tightly, I swallow hard and get ahold of myself.